Alexander Domrin, a Russian expert on comparative constitutional law, will speak on "Russian-American Relations in the Putin and Bush Era," on Thursday, April 19 at 1 p.m. in Room 140, Schaeffer Hall on the University of Iowa campus. This event is sponsored by the Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies (CREEES) and is free and open to the public.

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HEALTH NEWS

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2. UI to request approval from Board of Regents for new department

At the next meeting of the Board of Regents, State of Iowa, the University of Iowa will request approval for the creation of a department of radiation oncology within the UI College of Medicine. The new department will be formed from the existing Division of Radiation Oncology in the department of radiology.

"Radiation oncology and diagnostic radiology have been combined ever since x-rays were first discovered about 105 years ago," said Edmund A. Franken, Jr., M.D., professor and interim head of radiology. "However, in the last 30 years the two disciplines have naturally grown apart. Now the vast majority of academic medical centers have two separate departments, and it is time for that to happen at the UI."

3. Dentistry professor writes textbook chapter on dental anxiety

If the sound of a dentist's drill leaves you trembling, you are probably not alone. Avoiding the dentist, however, will not help the situation and could only make things worse for your teeth, according to a University of Iowa College of Dentistry researcher.

"When you ignore routine oral care because of dental anxiety, larger problems develop," said Cindy Marek, Pharm.D., assistant professor (clinical) of oral pathology, radiology and medicine. "In the end, more extensive -- and more expensive -- care is often needed."

4. conference to explore psychiatric-medical problems

The complexities of managing medical and psychiatric problems that occur simultaneously in patients will be the focus of a University of Iowa College of Medicine conference that will be from 8 a.m. to approximately 3:30 p.m., Saturday, April 21 in the Medical Alumni Auditorium at the UI Hospitals and Clinics.

The Third Annual Regional Medical Psychiatric Symposium is intended for family medicine physicians, general internists, psychiatrists, social workers, nurses, and psychiatry and internal medicine residents and fellows. The fee of $110 for physicians and $75 for allied health care professionals and nurses includes instruction, course materials, continental breakfast, buffet lunch and a refreshment break. Pre-registration is encouraged; however, participants may enroll at the door.

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UI IN THE NATIONAL NEWS

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Please note: Internet access to the full text of articles summarized below may require on-line subscriptions to the publication in some instances.

A team of scientists says it has grown everything from human muscle to bone from stem cells taken from fat -- a breakthrough that could eliminate the controversial use of fetal cells in the quest to mend damaged, missing or dead tissue. Researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles and the University of Pittsburgh isolated the stem cells -- immature cells that can be coaxed into maturing into specific types of tissue -- from ordinary fat removed by liposuction. They then grew the cells into bone, cartilage, muscle and fat. Dr. MARY HENDRIX, head of the department of anatomy and cell biology at the University of Iowa, said the study adds to the growing evidence that adult stem cells can be as easily manipulated as embryonic cells. "This is a very exciting discovery, because it's adding to our knowledge base of the potential of adult cells to provide a stem cell population," said Hendrix, who was not involved with the research.

Increasing evidence suggests that the direction of the sun's magnetic field appears to affect how cosmic rays penetrate our solar system, scientists say. They found that at the start of 11-year solar cycles, when the sun's magnetic pole points northward, cosmic rays decrease as sunspots increase. But, when the sun's magnetic pole faces south, the cosmic ray and sunspot variations occur nearly in sync. A paper published last August in Geophysical Research Letters by JAMES VAN ALLEN of the University of Iowa appears to support the finding. It found similar alignments of cosmic rays and so-called coronal mass ejections from the sun, powerful eruptions of the material that makes stars that increase alongside sunspots during the solar cycle. Van Allen is the famed discoverer of the radiation belts, high above Earth, that protect our planet from the worst effects of such blasts, in much the same way as the heliosphere screens cosmic rays.